DC next year? YES..its a money maker/rally the troops tool. SAME VENUE next year? MAYBE.
I may have posted this previously, but there was a convention in the midwest held in the state capital for many years. The Borg negotiated rates in the contract every year, but the city tourism bureau always reimbursed the Borg the FULL costs because of all the hotel/food/tourism revenue generated by the 1 or 2 conventions held. YET, this year the Borg decided to move the convention 45 min north to a new venue and signed a multiyear contract, Why? The original city venue upped the prices on the contract. The Tourism Bureau was STILL willing to reimburse the full contract price....so why not stay? The answer is the BIG PICTURE: If the Borg accepted the new higher price (and stepped outside of the Borg's secret formula for deciding what to pay), then other venues... where they DONT get reimbursed, would start digging in their heels and start fighting the Society's formula. I know this to be true because I spoke with someone involved in contract negotiations for the Borg...off the record of course....except here...
Believe me, these venue operators/managers all talk to each other off the record and compare notes. It would only take one time for the Society to accept higher prices and it would domino across the country. THEN the Borg could not afford the venues for very long...oh, scratch that...they CAN afford it....their PROFIT margin would go way down.
SnakesInTheTower (of the Undercover Sheep Class)